I have a very simplistic home setup. Router is in the lounge (as that is where my telephone port is). Splits into a switch for the media devices, and a homeplug (this is my ONLY route of data through to the office that is accessible).

In the office, there's another homeplug that once again goes into a switch that is shared between my day-to-day PC and my media server.

Would it be beneficial to:

1) Put the lounge HTPC directly into the router (bypassing the hub)?

2) Move the server to the lounge?

The majority of the traffic is between HTPC and media server. Really my questions break down to

1) Does the switch between the router and the HTPC create speed issues?

Connecting the HTPC directly to the router will not gain you any benefits, switches don't cause speed issues, especially if they are 1Gbit based ones, it would be different if it was 100Mbit versions.

Bandwidth wise between the power plugs can vary greatly. In most cases you'll probably get only 150Mbit/200Mbit out of them. They are rated for 500Mbit but that is under ideal conditions. I haven't seen anyone get more than 300Mbit with them, huge overhead as well, but I find them far more reliable than Wireless.

It would make sense for the media server to be on the same switch as the HTPC, Xbox etc if you stream media to all of them.

I have 500Mbps Homeplugs with almost brand new wiring in my house and I have never seen them go above a maximum of 200Mbps.

If your living room switch, HTPC and server are all 1Gbps, then it would be beneficial to have them not going over the homeplug. Is this the case?

The switch should not make a material difference to the speed itself unless it is 100Mbps and everything else 1Gbps.

You know what the kicker is? A lot of the earlier 200Mbit versions of the power plugs only had 100Mbit ports on them, so even if you could maximise the output somehow, you would only get 100Mbit out of them.

You know what the kicker is? A lot of the earlier 200Mbit versions of the power plugs only had 100Mbit ports on them, so even if you could maximise the output somehow, you would only get 100Mbit out of them.

Unfortunately, that's also very true of some 500Mbps devices sold today. You need to make sure you are carefully selecting your devices.

Yeah all switched a gbit, so the culprit seems to be the homehubs. I'm not keen on moving the server to the lounge - while it's "quiet" it's sure not "whisper silent", but if needs must. See - it's fine for streaming and stuff, it's more just large photos - when I am looking through pics on the HTPC it takes a fair while to enumerate and move to the next one.

Thanks for all the useful responses. I know very little about networking

Yeah all switched a gbit, so the culprit seems to be the homehubs. I'm not keen on moving the server to the lounge - while it's "quiet" it's sure not "whisper silent", but if needs must. See - it's fine for streaming and stuff, it's more just large photos - when I am looking through pics on the HTPC it takes a fair while to enumerate and move to the next one.

Thanks for all the useful responses. I know very little about networking

The powerplugs are not connected to an extension/surge protector are they? They need to be connected directly to the wall.

The problem with home plugs is that there is no way to say "yes they will work" or "no they won't". The only way to know is to test them.

Several things can affect home plugs. Wiring quality in the house. Distance on the ring between them. Other appliances on the ring. Transformers near by (especially cheaper transformers - these tend to interfere quite badly.

I use them here to get to remote places for media streaming. I have the 500 (gigabit port) ones, and can get around 200-220Mbps through them. If, however, I place one slightly further along the ring, it gets about 10Mbps. Have you tried different sockets for the home plugs?

The problem with home plugs is that there is no way to say "yes they will work" or "no they won't". The only way to know is to test them.

Several things can affect home plugs. Wiring quality in the house. Distance on the ring between them. Other appliances on the ring. Transformers near by (especially cheaper transformers - these tend to interfere quite badly.

I use them here to get to remote places for media streaming. I have the 500 (gigabit port) ones, and can get around 200-220Mbps through them. If, however, I place one slightly further along the ring, it gets about 10Mbps. Have you tried different sockets for the home plugs?

This^ I've noticed that simple connecting a phone charger in the socket next to my Power Plug can knock 50Mbit off it's speed, the light also goes from Green (Good connection) to Amber (Weak Connection).